"Marvel what if...?" has been part of the Disney+ Marvel Cinematic Universe umbrella since the beginning. It was the fourth official Marvel Studios show to launch on the then-burgeoning streaming platform in 2021, following WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki Season 1. The animated anthology series from the third and premiere of the last season is on December 22, 2024, mimicking the holiday release window "What if…?" season 2 in 2023.

Through her flow, "What if...?" tried to strike a tricky balance between showing true one-off alternate universe stories and tying into the larger MCU Multiverse Saga. There were recurring characters and stable storylines, even while episode-to-episode arcs remained relatively hypothetical and self-contained. In the end, it seems that the show's connective tissue with the larger plot of the MCU may be the reason for its end after three seasons, at least according to Marvel TV head Brad Winderbaum.

In a recent interview with The Hollywood ReporterWinderbaum explained part of the reasoning for canceling the animated series. "What if...?" has always been connected to the larger MCU and Multiverse Saga,” Winderbaum explained. "And for reasons that will become clear over the next few years, this was the right time to culminate the series from a story perspective." It's also true that three seasons is a pretty decent run for anything animated in the modern streaming landscape — a longer run than any other Marvel Studios Disney+ series to date.

According to Brad Winderbaum, there's a compelling narrative reason why now is the right time to wrap up the “What if…?” However, because of how clouded the MCU's multiverse era is, that reasoning isn't immediately clear.

While much has happened in recent years regarding the various "branches" of the so-called "Sacred Timeline," the multiverse itself isn't going anywhere as a core narrative construct, or at least it doesn't seem like it. Kang the Conqueror was shelved due to the controversy surrounding actor Jonathan Majors, but Robert Downey Jr. will play Doctor Doom in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday. It's still hard to tell exactly where the franchise is going in an overarching sense, but it would also make sense for Marvel Studios to start moving away from narratives for the multiverse explicitly and start using it more as an excuse to tell different kinds of stories.

That said, there are certainly other reasons for canceling the show. Animation isn't cheap, and Disney has made no secret of the fact that many Star Wars and Marvel's streaming series released over the past few years have been incredibly expensive - often without a proportionate payday. "What if…?" was a pretty steady hit with critics and fans, but it also didn't earn the sky-high praise of other recent Disney+ fare like "X-Men '97" or "Agatha All Along."

While Marvel always has the overarching story of the MCU in mind, there are tons of factors that go into renewing or canceling any show. If "What if...?" had significant attention or was a huge cash cow for Disney+, I'm sure the studio would have found a narrative reason to continue. But even a huge company like Disney has limited resources, and Marvel's animated wing in particular has started going in different directions lately.

The big success of "X-Men 97" It probably made some people at Marvel Studios rethink future TV projects. The show has nothing to do with the MCU, and for fans who just couldn't keep up with all the streaming series that have popped up in recent years, that was kind of a selling point. In the same interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Winderbaum described another upcoming animated project, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, as "just a fun ride," emphasizing its relatively independent status, which is similar to that of the X-Men. "

"Eyes of Wakanda," another upcoming animated series, will likely tie more directly to the larger MCU, but its pace, which Winderbaum described as "a story about conquest and national identity," makes it a little different thematically, at least in theory. By its very nature, "What if...?" is a less focused show, making it potentially less of a fit with Marvel's upcoming animated slate.

Once again, the third and final season of Marvel's What If...? will premiere on December 22, 2024 on Disney+.